The Graduation Blog

Today is a BIG day in the Colescott Household.  My Son, Austin, will be graduating tonight from High School.  The past four years have made this no small feat.  In proper context, which I will provide, it’s hard to see how anything he experienced could be considered a “Typical” High School experience.  One personal point of nostalgia for me will be that he is graduating on the same field where I received my diploma over 30 years ago.

There was no transition or opportunity to “adjust” to being a High School Freshman.  Just hours before Austin was set to start classes for his first year in High School our community experienced one of the worst flooding events in over a century.  His High School suffered extensive flood damage removing any chance of attending classes there as scheduled.  All the prep of orientation and walking his schedule the week prior were now all for not.  His introduction to High School happened on another campus. 

For the majority of his Freshman year, he had to learn an entirely new campus, class schedule and revised extracurricular events.  Teachers were also not in their element and were quickly adapting as well.  We all found out in real time what it meant to turn a community upside down and still meet the academic goals necessary.  Happily, by March of the Spring Semester, through many heroic feats, his home campus re-opened.  While its nice to be home, it was yet another transition back.

I honestly do not feel there has been enough said, not about the flooding, but about the sheer resilience and tenacity so many had (students and teachers) to get through that school year.  Strangely enough, it would be these lessons that would soon be put to good use just a short time later.  Thankfully, there was period of normalcy for Austin during his Sophomore Year.  But this would only last through the Fall of his Junior Year.

Of course, we all know what happened then.  A Global Pandemic shut down what would have been the Spring Semester of his Junior Year and carried over into most of his Senior Year.  Thankfully we’re seeing moments of normalcy returning just as we get to the end, particularly his Project Graduation Event and the Graduation Ceremony tonight.  At times it almost seems unreal that so much can happen in four short years.  Some have adopted the saying “From Floods to the Pandemic” as book ends for what the Class of 2021 has had to endure.

When I look on my Son’s time in High School and his ability to rise above the adversity with such strength, I am completely in awe.  His ability to adapt and thrive is just remarkable.  There have been so many starts and stops, curve balls thrown, that many would have merely given up.  But I am proud to say my Son persevered through all of this with outstanding grades and his competitive edge as a Cross-Country and Track Athlete. 

Despite my constant desire to coach him on the minor points of life, he has shown me more about how prepared he is for anything that will come his way in life.  As we celebrate his accomplishment tonight at Graduation, we will look toward his next challenge, moving on to College.  He has proven himself to be quite a formidable force and I have no doubt there isn’t anything he can’t accomplish if he sets his mind to it.  Congratulations Austin, we are so Proud of You!